State Nursing Programs Face Faculty Shortage

As Connecticut’s universities scramble to create and expand nursing programs to face a mounting nursing shortage in the state, another hurdle has emerged. There aren’t enough nursing faculty available to teach the additional courses.

There are now 18 nursing programs run by university and colleges in the state, an appropriate number for a state with Connecticut’s population, said Elizabeth Beaudin, director of nursing and work force initiatives for the Connecticut Hospital Association.

“But we’re facing the barrier of having an older faculty that is not being replaced,” she explained.

The average age of a nurse in the state is 47 years old and the average age of nurse faculty is more than 50 years old.

“It’s a big, big issue because we need to increase nursing programs, but we can’t support them,” she said. “Even beyond faculty, there are other barriers such as [having enough] classrooms and laboratory size.”

Not Enough Classes

While state universities and colleges have responded to the shortage by creating more programs, Beaudin points out that the size of the programs are still too small to meet the demand and interest by students.

“It’s a huge barrier because most of the programs do not have waiting lists and students have to be turned away,” she said.

In 2006, the Connecticut League for Nursing estimated 2,000 students who applied for nursing programs in the state were turned away.

Other barriers to increasing the nursing programs also exist, Beaudin explained. Students who want to enter nursing programs need chemistry, biology and anatomy classes as do many other college students.

There is a secondary education “pipeline issue” as well, she added, noting that the state has been facing declining high school test scores in math and science.

Other challenges include the lack of classroom and hospital space, to accommodate the increased number of nursing students, Beaudin said.

There simply is not even room for one hospital to accommodate nine or 10 sets of nursing students from different schools, as they are currently attempting, she explained.

Despite these barriers, Beaudin said the state is making some progress in reducing the nursing shortage.

New Programs

The University of Connecticut and Central Connecticut State University have been doing their part to reduce the nursing shortage.

The state Department of Higher Education approved a new four-year Bachelor of Science in nursing at CCSU. The new nursing program will accept 50 additional students beginning when they enter the university as freshman.

Previously, the university offered a two-year program where students were prepared for state licensing.

“[The new program] addresses the nursing shortage because students can come in as freshmen and by sophomore year, they can be enrolled in a nursing program,” said Mitchell Sakofs, dean of CCSU’s school of education and professional studies.

Buoyed by a $200,000 state grant to upgrade facilities, the UConn officials announced in the winter that they were expanding their nursing program at the Storrs campus. Plans also called for the addition of new nursing programs at UConn’s Stamford and Waterbury campuses.

The three programs are expected to boost the number of nursing graduates from 140 to 236, said UConn’s dean of nursing Anne Bavier. UConn’s new programs are aimed at older students with degrees in other disciplines, such as chemistry and biology, who are looking for a different career path.

New Career

“These are individuals that, for whatever personal reasons, are missing that human element because they ended up in labs,” Bavier said.

“They have a passion to help and they see the growing demand and high success rate of nursing graduates,” she added.

Connecticut Hospital Association data for 2007 revealed a 6.6 percent vacancy rate in the state for staff nurses.

“The hospitals are very supportive and have reached out to help,” Bavier said.

“They’re delighted we’ve taken this initiative,” Bavier added.

Big Problem

Michael P. Meotti, commissioner of the state’s Department of Higher Education, maintains that the nursing shortage is one of the biggest problems facing higher education.

Connecticut is expecting an 11,000 shortage of nurses by 2010 and 22,400 by 2020, according to national data.

“We’re pleased that these schools have taken these steps but the challenge is to continue to find faculty,” Meotti said.